Upstate Update: Bishop Timon's Ambitious National Schedule

Playing one of the most ambitious and difficult national schedules of any team from New York State and sitting at 4-1, Bishop Timon-St. Jude has made its case so far as the team to beat in Section VI, which encompasses the Buffalo region and Western New York.

However, many of the Tigers' games are against out-of-section competition, including matchups with teams from outside the Empire State. The team has already faced the likes of Cranbrook out of Michigan and Indiana powerhouse private school Culver Academy—the Tigers' only loss so far.

"When you're a high school team like ours, you want to play the best teams," said Timon coach Mike Burke. "You don't want to spread the level of competition. The worst thing you can do is play a cupcake schedule. … We play an awesome schedule and it's a good opportunity to get out and play the best teams in the country, whether they're from Baltimore, Canada and the midwest, and—if we make it there—Long Island."

Burke was referring to his program's chance to compete this spring for one of the highest-profile championships in the nation. Moving up from the AA bracket of the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association, the winner of the Section VI private league will go on to face the NY LI AAA-AA conference, with Chaminade as a clear current favor there.

If that doesn't pan out, the Tigers have another shot to boost their profile. On the weekend of May 17 and 18, Timon is one of a dozen teams—the only from New York—invited to competed in the fourth annual North American Lacrosse Invitational Tournament in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The Tigers took the Blue Division last year with a win over Ohio's Dublin Jerome.

In the coming weeks, Burke's team will face Brother Rice—one of the most dominant programs in the history of Michigan lacrosse—and The Hill Academy out of Ontario before getting into the meat of the Section VI Private division schedule.

But before the Tigers get ahead of themselves, they have one of their most challenging games of the season on tap Thursday afternoon in meeting Boys' Latin in Baltimore, currently the top-ranked scholastic team in the nation and a perennial force in the MIAA conference.

The game will pit two of the most talked-about players in the class of 2014 against one another in the Lakers' Shack Stanwick (Johns Hopkins), ranked the number one senior by Inside Lacrosse, and Timon's Adam DiMillo (Maryland), ranked sixth.

DiMillo, arguably one of the best midfielders in high school lacrosse, has not necessarily improved upon his stats from previous seasons—a tough task when you put up 60 goals as a freshman. But Burke says it's not about the stat sheet with this 2013 All-American and future Terrapin.

"He does so much more," Burke said. "He really understands the game and he wants to make everyone around him better. He's doesn't care about getting the points. He cares about the team scoring the goals. We've had him facing off when we need him, running long pole a little bit—he can do everything, attack, midfield, defense, face-offs. He he just dominates."

A standout running back before his senior season, DiMillo broke his thumb over the summer and decided to not compete in the fall, though he did participate in practices and assisted on the sideline during games. It was another unfortunate event in a series of significant injuries of his career. Several years ago, he shattered a bone in his arm, which required a metal plate. In 2012, it had to be removed after a slash on the arm drove one of the screws too deep into the bone.

Focusing on lacrosse all winter, Burke said DiMillo came in more rounded as a player than ever before and has already shown it this season, making an impact all over the field and making plays that have helped his team succeed.

"It's special to have a player like Adam," he said.

Perhaps somewhat overlooked on the national scene, fellow senior and returning All-American Connor Fields (Albany) set a high school record in 2013 with 129 goals on the season. The attackman is on pace for another big season with 36 goals in five games. Against Ithaca on April 5, Fields notched eight goals and two assists. In Timon's 18-5 win over Cranbrook, Fields exploded for 10 goals and six assists.

The team has other standouts, including senior face-off specialist Sam Watts (Mercyhurst) and junior goaltender Tristan Dougherty (Hobart)—players who should help the Tigers as they battle through their tough schedule.

Thanks to the team's one-sided 16-3 loss to Culver Academy the day following the Cranbrook game, Burke said his team got a reality check about how it needed to play in order to hang with some of the nationally recognized programs on the schedule.

"You learn some things when you play a team like that," Burke said. "They've played a lot more games against higher level competition. Some of the success that we have had has come with stuff you're not going to get away with against a top-five team: not moving the ball on offense, not using everybody, struggling with clearing."

Regardless of whether his team wins or loses to Boys' Latin on Thursday, the Timon coach hopes his team will learn along the way this season to play "the game the way it's meant to be played at the highest level" and not "take shortcuts" against its more notable opponents.

"When you're playing a team with a lot of talent, you have to play as a team. Everyone has to step up. All of our guys can play, it's just a matter of doing it as a team."

Casey Vock, who hails from Upstate New York, will provide periodic updates on the New York State lacrosse scene throughout the spring. Follow him on Twitter at @cvock. Reach him via email at cvock@insidelacrosse.com. Follow @ILPreps all season long for scores, news and more from the national high school landscape.